LCQ20: Waiting time of driving test centres
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Question:
It has been reported that the waiting time for the road tests of driving tests has become increasingly long recently. For example, the waiting time for taking road tests for private cars on Hong Kong Island is 92 calendar days, and that in Kowloon and the New Territories is 231 calendar days. Such waiting times are much longer than the target (i.e. 82 calendar days) set in the performance pledge of the Transport Department. On the other hand, it is learnt that there is an acute shortage of drivers of commercial vehicles (including taxis, public light buses, non-franchised buses and goods vehicles) and the succession problem of such drivers is very serious. To alleviate such problems, the Transport Department is conducting a review on the relaxation of the requirement that an applicant for a driving licence to drive commercial vehicles must have held a private car driving licence for at least three years. However, some members of the transport trade have pointed out that if the situation of increasingly long waiting time for road tests persists, the effectiveness of such relaxation measure is questionable. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) with respect to each driving test centre, of (i) the respective numbers of road tests for various classes of vehicles handled and the respective average waiting time for such tests, in the past three years, (ii) the current number of Driving Examiners, and (iii) the daily average number of road tests arranged at present (set out in a table);
(2) of the reasons why there is a difference of almost five months between the waiting time for taking road tests on Hong Kong Island and that in Kowloon and the New Territories at present, and what measures are in place to narrow such difference; whether the authorities will consider introducing measures (e.g. offering concessions on the fees for driving tests to candidates taking road tests on Hong Kong Island) to encourage candidates to choose taking road tests on Hong Kong Island; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3) whether it will consider providing additional driving test centres, employing additional Driving Examiners and extending the service hours of driving test centres, so as to boost the road test capacity; if it will, of the details (including the expected (i) increase in the number of road tests, and (ii) extent to which the waiting time for road tests may be shortened, after the implementation of such measures); if not, the reasons for that, and what measures are in place to alleviate the situation of increasingly long waiting time at present?
Reply:
President,
The reply to the various parts of the Hon Frankie Yick's question is as follows.
(1) The numbers of driving tests for various classes of vehicles handled by the driving test centres (DTCs) and the average waiting time for such tests (by test district, i.e. Hong Kong Island, and Kowloon and the New Territories) in each of the past three years are set out in the Annex. The Transport Department (TD) does not maintain a breakdown for each driving test centre (DTC).
Currently, there are altogether 17 DTCs on Hong Kong Island, as well as in Kowloon and the New Territories, and around 70 Driving Examiners (DEs) in the TD. The daily deployment of DEs to these DTCs depends on the number and type of driving tests arranged for the DTCs on the day. Since the number of driving tests conducted in these DTCs varies from day to day, the number of DEs deployed to these centres also varies accordingly. The TD is therefore unable to provide a breakdown of DEs for each DTC.
As regards the current daily average number of road tests arranged, the TD arranges around 150 road tests at DTCs on Hong Kong Island, and around 570 in Kowloon and the New Territories every day. The TD does not maintain a breakdown for each DTC.
(2) The waiting time of DTCs varies with the number of candidates. As demand for driving tests from candidates in Kowloon and the New Territories (accounting for about 80% of the overall demand) is far higher than that from candidates on Hong Kong Island (accounting for the remaining 20%), the waiting time for the former group is longer. In this connection, the TD has allocated its existing DE resources in proportion to the demand in the two test districts. This means deploying additional DEs to DTCs in Kowloon and the New Territories as far as possible so that test centre facilities in the district will be optimally utilised to handle a greater number of driving tests in response to demand from candidates. The TD has no plan to offer concessions on the driving test fees to encourage candidates to opt for a road test on Hong Kong Island.
(3) The TD has been monitoring the public’s demand for driving tests, and deploying available resources for the provision of driving test service. Between 2010 and 2015, the total number of applications for driving tests recorded an average year-on-year increase of more than 10%, with a cumulative increase of 70% over the five-year period.
To meet increasing demand, the TD has deployed additional resources to recruit staff for service enhancement. It also launched a service in late 2013 to allow repeaters to apply for early test appointment online. The service aims to better utilise test slots released as a result of applications for postponement of driving tests by some candidates or temporary cancellation of test appointments. Since 2016, the TD has been employing retired DEs through the Post-retirement Service Contract Scheme to flexibly and expeditiously fill in manpower gaps arising from natural wastage. As for the extension of operating hours of DTCs, it involves additional manpower resources. The TD considers it more efficient to shorten driving test waiting time by allocating any additional manpower resources to increasing the number of driving tests conducted within existing operating hours.
With the relevant measures and arrangements in place, the number of road tests arranged by the TD each year has increased by 65% from approximately 100 000 in 2010 to nearly 170 000 in 2015. The TD understands the importance of commercial vehicles to the Hong Kong economy and has prioritised the allocation of resources accordingly. As a result, the waiting time for commercial driving test has been able to be maintained at less than 82 calendar days since 2015.
In view of the ever-increasing demand for driving tests, the TD has been deploying additional resources and manpower to this area of work. Nevertheless, the capacity for the TD to provide driving test services is limited by other factors as well, especially the number of DTCs in which driving tests may be held. The TD will continue to actively identify sites for new DTCs. However, the relevant work proved to be highly challenging. For example, the TD has encountered many difficulties in identifying suitable sites and soliciting community support for new DTCs, such as a lack of suitable sites and opposition from members of the local community. Despite that, the TD will continue to endeavour to identify suitable sites for additional DTCs, solicit local community support, and utilise existing resources as far as possible to shorten waiting time for driving tests (especially those for commercial vehicles).
Ends/Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Issued at HKT 16:01
Issued at HKT 16:01
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